UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Can anyone give me a relatively simple definition of what a "getty" is? Are there multiple getty processes or types of getty processes? or is there just one?

What does getty do in relation to a tty or pty?

Thanks to all who respond.

first look at the command:
man getty
on my system though man getty shows no results, if that isthe case for you then try :
man mgetty
man agetty
essentially they do the same thing, they provide the user with the login program, and ensure that upon user log-out that the login prompt is restarted. somewhere on the net i read a very good paper on just exactly what getty does. when you log in getty then supplies the user with his shell, and then the rest is done by the shell. getty is used on the local tty's, aswell as telnet (or ssh) sessions and if you have a serial terminal set up getty is used on that aswell. in your startup scripts you can add addition tty's to your system, this is done by adding lines for getty with the appropriate parameters, tty# etc. search google for "getty" youll probably find some pretty useful results.